1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system and a method for authenticating and authorizing network services.
2. Description of the Related Art
In future 3G (third generation) system architectures, network services may be provisioned through many different network access methods, for example CDMA2000 (Code Division Multiple Access, version 2000), non-cellular IP based network, 802.11 Wireless LAN (Local Area Network), Bluetooth, or Ethernet. However, in 3GPP2 mobile devices are currently only able to access network services using CDMA2000 access methods. Therefore, in order to more reliably and efficiently provision network services there is a need to allow mobile devices the ability to authenticate through different types of access networks so that different access networks can authorize services.
There is no one universal authentication process for authenticating a user (terminal) in any kind of network access technology. And this makes gaining access and mobility of sessions difficult in a multi-access scenario. A message exchange is needed between the network and the mobile station, to allow service provisioning in a generic IP network, cellular or non-cellular, for using the same authority. However, there is a problem that the terminal needs to use some other method to authenticate itself with the operator's network and receive service if it is not using the CDMA2000 cellular network.
Similar problems occur, when a R-UIM chip is used which holds a users identify for mobile cellular phone use in CDMA networks, similar to how SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards hold a user's identity in GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) networks. The R-UIM is described in 3GPP2 document C.S0023-0.
For example, if the terminal is using a WLAN (Wireless LAN) or Bluetooth radio for its connections, e.g., to the Internet, and using the same registration identity from the R-UIM module, it needs a separate non-cellular protocol to achieve this, which is the problem this application addresses.